Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken
"Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones. It is the forty-sixth episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 17, 2015. It was written by Bryan Cogman and directed by Jeremy Podeswa. Plot Arya trains. Jorah and Tyrion run into slavers. Trystane and Myrcella make plans. Jaime and Bronn reach their destination. The Sand Snakes attack. Summary In Braavos In Dorne Bronn and Jaime approach the Water Gardens, wearing the robes they stole from the Martell soldiers they killed. Bronn wonders what Jaime will do once they get inside and find Myrcella, to which Jaime replies that he likes to improvise; Bronn sarcastically remarks "That explains the golden hand." Meanwhile, Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes are already inside the Gardens; she sends them out to abduct Myrcella, telling them to do it "for Oberyn." Myrcella herself is enjoying another stroll with her betrothed Trystane Martell, watched by Trystane's father Prince Doran Martell and his bodyguard Areo Hotah. Doran comments that they look lovely together, but that they don't realize how dangerous their betrothal is, and that he and Areo must protect them. He remarks that Areo hasn't had to use his longaxe for quite a while. Areo assures him he still remembers how to use it. Jaime and Bronn infiltrate the Water Gardens and soon come upon Myrcella kissing Trystane. Jaime tries to convince Myrcella to come with him, but Trystane interferes, quickly growing suspicious of the bloodstains on Bronn and Jaime's Dornish robes. When Trystane tries to draw his sword, Bronn quickly knocks him down, to Myrcella's horror. Jaime tries to lead her away, but they are suddenly attacked by the Sand Snakes. Bronn fights against Tyene and Nymeria (during which Tyene nicks his arm with her poisoned dagger), while Obara attacks Jaime with her spear, driving him away from Myrcella. Obara orders Nym to break away from Bronn and take Myrcella prisoner, but as Nym tries to pull her away, they are cut off by Areo and Prince Doran's guards, who surround them and force them all to drop their weapons. Jaime, Bronn, Ellaria and the Sand Snakes are all taken into custody. In King's Landing Petyr Baelish arrives in King’s Landing and is on his way to meet Cersei when he is confronted by Brother Lancel and some other Sparrows. Lancel warns Baelish that they have purged King's Landing of its corrupt ways, and the new King’s Landing will not tolerate his prostitution business. But Baelish is hardly bothered by these threats and walks away. Cersei, meeting with Baelish, continues to deny her involvement in Loras Tyrell’s arrest by the Faith Militant. But Baelish is not fooled by this and is sure that House Tyrell will not tolerate this insult. Cersei claims that she is the insulted one since Ser Loras, who was promised to her, prefers the company of men – even Baelish seems slightly thrown that Cersei is playing that card. Cersei then gets to the reason for which she summoned Baelish. Cersei is suspicious where his loyalties truly lie and asks him whether she can rely on the Knights of the Vale to fight for the Throne if the time comes. Baelish assures her that young Robyn heeds his advice and he will always counsel loyalty to the Throne. Baelish then reveals that Sansa is back in Winterfell, where Roose Bolton has arranged for her to marry Ramsay. Cersei is infuriated by the Boltons’ betrayal. To add fuel to the fire, Baelish adds that marrying the last remaining Stark gives the Boltons a stronger hold over the North than an alliance with a hated southern house. Baelish recommends that Cersei be patient and let the Boltons and Stannis, who is currently marching towards Winterfell, fight each other and when the victor is still recovering from the battle, step in and defeat him. He thinks that Cersei’s uncle Kevan Lannister could muster a force or even Jaime Lannister could lead an army to the North. But Cersei claims that her uncle doesn’t have the courage to lead an army, while Jaime is away on a “sensitive diplomatic mission.” Baelish proposes that the soldiers of the Vale could fight instead but Cersei is unsure of Baelish’s ability to lead an army. Baelish convinces her, stating that the Crown doesn’t lose anything even if they fail. All Baelish wants in return is to be named Warden of the North. Cersei agrees to talk to the King about this. Olenna Tyrell returns to King’s Landing after learning of her grandson’s arrest. Olenna tries to talks Cersei down into releasing Loras. But Cersei sticks to her claim that it was the Faith Militant who arrested Loras and she had nothing to do with it. Olenna warns Cersei that her actions have endangered the Lannister-Tyrell alliance – the very alliance that is supplying the capital with food. Cersei informs Olenna that the High Septon has called for a preliminary hearing to determine whether the charges against Loras have merit and expresses confidence that Loras will be acquitted. The High Sparrow interrogates Loras first who refutes the accusations against him. He then questions Margaery, who also denies any knowledge of it. The High Sparrow then calls in Olyvar, in character as Loras’s "squire", who claims that the accusations against Loras are in fact true. Olyvar also admits that Margaery walked in on them once, but didn’t seem surprised. To support his testimony, Olyvar tells the High Sparrow of a birthmark Loras has, shaped like Dorne. Deciding that this is more than enough evidence for a trial, Loras is arrested. Since Margaery bore false witness before the Gods, she is arrested too. As Margaery, who is forcefully dragged away, calls out for Tommen, the King watches on helplessly while Olenna sadly regards Cersei's barely contained smug expression. In the North At Winterfell, Sansa is joined by Myranda in her room. She requests to help Sansa take a bath, so she is presentable to Ramsay during the wedding. While she is washing Sansa's back, she mentions the many girls Ramsay has been with, and how they all bored him after a while. Knowing that Myranda is trying to frighten her, she coldly counters by calling her relationship with Ramsay out, and mentioning that no one can frighten her in her own home. Reek gives Sansa away to Ramsay, and they wed in front of the Godswood. After retreating to the bedroom, Ramsay asks Sansa to take her clothes off, as Reek wants to leave but Ramsay tells him he must stay. Ramsay quips to Reek:, "you grew up with her as a girl, now watch her become a woman." Annoyed by Sansa's hesitance, he angrily rips open her dress and forces her over the bed. Reek is visibly distraught as Ramsay proceeds to rape Sansa, consummating their marriage. Appearances First * Joss * Ghita * Malko Deaths * Ghita Production Cast Starring * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister * Lena Headey as Queen Mother Cersei Lannister * Aidan Gillen as Lord Petyr Baelish * Natalie Dormer as Queen Margaery Tyrell * Indira Varma as Ellaria Sand * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark * Sophie Turner as Lady Sansa Stark * Jerome Flynn as Ser Bronn * Alfie Allen as Theon "Reek" Greyjoy * Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton * Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Bolton * Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'ghar * Dean-Charles Chapman as King Tommen Baratheon *with Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont Guest Starring * Diana Rigg as Lady Olenna Tyrell * Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow * Alexander Siddig as Prince Doran Martell * DeObia Oparei as Captain Areo Hotah * Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand * Rosabell Laurenti Sellers as Tyene Sand * Jessica Henwick as Nymeria Sand * Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell * Will Tudor as Olyvar * Eugene Simon as Lancel * Faye Marsay as The Waif * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Malko * Toby Sebastian as Prince Trystane Martell * Nell Tiger Free as Princess Myrcella Baratheon * Charlotte Hope as Myranda * Elizabeth Webster as Walda Bolton * Michael Yare as Slaver 1 * James McKenzie Robinson as Joss * Hattie Gotobed as Ghita Cast notes * 15 of 28 cast members for the fifth season appear in this episode. * Starring cast members Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Conleth Hill (Varys), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Hannah Murray (Gilly), Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) and Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane) are not credited and do not appear in this episode. Notes *This episode takes its title from the motto of House Martell of Dorne: "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken", which refers to the fact that Dorne is the only one of the Seven Kingdoms never to be successfully conquered by outsiders. When the Targaryens conquered the rest of the Seven Kingdoms three centuries ago, the Dornish were able to resist them by resorting to guerrilla warfare, harassing Targaryen armies in their deserts until they withdrew. The Martells only united with the Iron Throne one century ago, but through a voluntary marriage-alliance on equal terms. This naming choice is similar to how the first episode of Season 1 was named "Winter is Coming", after the House words of the Starks, and the Season 1 finale was named "Fire and Blood", after the words of House Targaryen. *The Night's Watch and The Wall do not appear in this episode, nor do House Baratheon (though Stannis Baratheon and his followers departed from the Wall last episode). Meereen and Daenerys Targaryen do not appear in this episode (though other characters do discuss Stannis and Daenerys). Brienne of Tarth does not appear in this episode (she was last seen in the winter town outside of Winterfell castle). House Greyjoy has not appeared so far this season. *This episode marks the first full introduction of Trystane Martell and the reintroduction of Myrcella Baratheon after she left King's Landing in Season 2 (and the role was recast with actress Nell Tiger Free). They both first appeared four episodes ago in "The House of Black and White" but had no significant dialogue. **For the first time, this episode also indirectly explains how Myrcella has been doing for the past three years. Back in Season 2, Cersei was outraged that Myrcella was being sent away to forge a marriage-alliance with Dorne, saying it was selling her like a common whore, just as she was sent away by her father into her miserable marriage to Robert Baratheon. In Season 4, Cersei assumed that Myrcella was a glorified prisoner surrounded by enemies, even though Oberyn said she was laughing and playing with his younger daughters in the Water Gardens. As it so happened, while their match was arranged, both Myrcella and Trystane fell madly in love with each other, proverbial star-crossed lovers from rival Houses. Myrcella has actually been having a rather enjoyable time in Dorne since she was last seen in Season 2. *While the storylines with the Boltons in the North and Sansa Stark in the Vale are related in the novels, the TV series made a major condensation by having Sansa actually marry Ramsay Bolton. In the novels, Sansa marries Sweetrobin Arryn's cousin and heir Harrold Hardyng, while Ramsay marries a Northern girl taken prisoner and passed off as Arya - actually, Sansa's best friend Jeyne Poole, missing and presumed dead since Joffrey's coup at the end of the first novel. Jeyne was kept sexually enslaved in one of Littlefinger's brothels in the intervening years (apparently just out of Baelish's petty cruelty), then sent to the Boltons because, given that she grew up alongside the Stark girls in Winterfell, she could plausibly pass herself off as Arya when asked questions about the castle. **Ramsay's treatment of Jeyne Poole on their wedding night is horrific even by Ramsay's standards. Much of it is only implied, but Jeyne is left a horrified shell weeping so loudly at his abuse that much of the rest of the castle can hear it - Roose gets annoyed at this, because the guests in the castle are major Northern lords, and Ramsay is oblivious to how much he is infuriating all of them with his psychotic behavior. At one point Ramsay has Reek "warm up" Jeyne by performing oral sex on her, meant to humiliate both of them. Reek dares not resist because he knows that Ramsay will severely punish both of them if he does (i.e. start cutting off fingers from both of them). It is heavily implied that Ramsay forced Jeyne to have sex with one of his hunting dogs for his own sick amusement, threatening to cut off her feet one at a time if she didn't. **In contrast, Ramsay's wedding night with Sansa Stark in the TV version was relatively toned down. He made Reek stay in the room to watch to humiliate them both, and Sansa is crying and clearly not enjoying what is happening, but he isn't doing everything he did to Jeyne in the novels (which would have probably been outright unfilmable, even by implication). **Westeros has no concept of sexual abuse within marriage, and most marriages among the nobility are not made for love but to secure political alliances. As in the real-life Middle Ages, once a woman is married her husband has the right to sexual access to her, and moreover, the woman is aware of this and that she doesn't really have viable options to deny him. That is, Ramsay has sex with Sansa and she is crying, but she isn't fighting him off - she knew the marriage would entail this (indeed, Littlefinger instructed her to basically seduce Ramsay). This is comparable to aspects of Cersei Lannister's marriage to Robert Baratheon: Cersei quickly grew to loathe Robert, but she never outright denied him sexual access to her - simply because she had no real options. Her father had commanded her to marry Robert to secure a political alliance, so she couldn't complain to Tywin about how Robert was treating her. **A point brought up between Ramsay and Sansa on their wedding night is the status of her virginity - she tells him the truth, that Tyrion was so offended and disgusted that his father forced him to marry Sansa that he wouldn't consummate the marriage. TV-first viewers might be confused why Ramsay wouldn't simply be able to tell if Sansa was still a virgin when he had sex with her for the first time, breaking her hymen (called a "maidenhead" in the books). The novels actually give some extra cultural background about this - Cersei around this time ponders making the accusation that Margaery isn't a virgin anymore, but realizes this would be impossible to prove: because girls from noble families spend so much time riding Horses for basic transport, almost none of them have intact hymens by the time they marry. The husbands of noble-born girls usually just have to take them at their word that they are virgins. *The religion of the Old Gods simply has no clergy or priesthood whatsoever, explaining why Roose Bolton officiates the ceremony himself. In the Faith of the Seven, marriages are officiated by a Septon or Septa, such as when Tommen and Margaery married earlier this season. As presented here, the ceremony seems relatively simple, with the bride and groom exchanging brief vows officiated by the groom's father - though it isn't clear if this is a rule, or if Roose happened to be the one to officiate in this instance. **Closer inspection of Sansa's wedding gown reveals that she is actually wearing her mother Catelyn's House Tully trout-sigil pins. She must have found them wherever her mother stored other ones in the castle. *The Faith of the Seven believes that homosexuality is a sin, but not a very severe one, on par with adultery or having sex with prostitutes. Olenna Tyrell somewhat highlights this in the episode itself when she is talking with Margaery and in disbelief that this is anything more than a stunt by Cersei to shame them, because it is highly unusual to outright put Loras on trial for homosexual acts - it is somewhat like if Robert Baratheon were suddenly put on trial by the Faith for being a whore-monger. The Sparrows and the Faith Militant, however, are fanatics with an extremist view of the religion. **The Faith also doesn't normally have the right to hold its own ecclesiastical courts - that was one of the powers it lost when the Targaryens disbanded the Faith Militant over two centuries ago. When Cersei had the Faith Militant recreated, she also granted the High Sparrow the power to hold ecclesiastical trials for things such as adultery and homosexuality. *Notice that Olenna Tyrell's costume has subtlely changed: costumer designer Michele Clapton developed the detail that back in Seasons 3 and 4, House Tyrell was "playing nice" with the Lannisters, so instead of wearing bold green and gold colors, their costumes actually used more of a softer teal color, to give them a more gentle appearance. Once Margaery is officially Tommen's new Queen, however, the Tyrells no longer pretend to be getting along with the Lannisters, and start openly demanding concessions. As a result the Tyrell "true colors" are revealed, and they switch from softer teals to darker greens. See "Costumes: The Seven Kingdoms - The Reach. **This is the first episode in which the infamous nickname of Olenna Tyrell, "the Queen of Thorns", is mentioned on-screen. **As Olenna's wheelhouse is approaching King's Landing, she remarks that you can smell the shit five miles away. This is no throwaway line by the TV series: numerous times in the novels, characters remark on how bad the air in King's Landing smells, how overcrowded and filthy it is. It is a city of half a million people but was quickly constructed as the new Targaryen capital city and grew haphazardly as a boomtown without much careful "urban planning", leading to smelly slum districts such as Flea Bottom. As an audio-visual medium, the TV series can't often convey smells as well as descriptions in the novels can. **Olenna's wheelhouse is accurately depicted as traveling up the Roseroad from the south side of the Blackwater River, opposite from King's Landing on the north side. *This episode marks the debut of the ribald song The Dornishman's Wife. Bronn keeps insisting on getting to the last verse because it is actually the punchline to an obscene joke. The subject of the song keeps praising the beauty of the Dornishman's wife while describing what a dangerous fighter the Dornishman is; ultimately the Dornishman challenges him to a duel and he is mortally injured, but as he lies dying he tells his companions that he is unconcerned, for while the Dornishman has taken his life, he has "tasted" the Dornishman's wife. *Viewers have been warned that "Winter is Coming" since the Season 1 premiere, and the ten year long summer turned into autumn back at the beginning of Season 2. The end of autumn is indeed finally approaching: in previous episodes, both Stannis and his enemies have pointed out that he will have to march on Winterfell soon, because if he waits a matter of weeks he would risk getting snowbound at the Wall. Cersei says to Littlefinger in this episode that the weather has started to turn. Seasons in The Known World that Westeros and Essos are located in can last for years, compared to the months in real life. Tyrion said back in Season 1 that the winter he was born in lasted three years, which is considered unusually long, and in the past three decades or so there have only bee nine winters including that one. Ten year long seasons are very rare, usually occurring only once every century - Pycelle said that the recent ten year long summer was the longest in living memory. Note the distinction that a single season can last over three years, not the full four-season cycle, which is even longer. The seasons are longer in Westeros but when they turn it isn't like someone simply flipped a switch and the seasons turn without warning. Much like on real life Earth, people can tell that a season is gradually starting to shift into the next one - though the rate at which this occurs in Westeros can be difficult to determine. While it is not officially winter yet, the weather is starting to get noticeably cooler (compare to November in the Northern Hemisphere: it is not technically winter but the weather is getting colder). It is known to snow in the North even during summers from time to time (light dustings called "summer snows", mentioned in Season 1). In this episode, it is lightly snowing in the North - though this is not very unusual for that location. In contrast, younger people in southern Westeros have never even seen it snow. *The backstory that The Waif tells Arya about herself doesn't exactly match how her backstory is given in the novels - but then again, the Waif does strongly imply to Arya that she was lying about several details of her story. *It is no empty boast that Jorah is one of the most skilled knights in Westeros: in his youth, he was actually quite a successful tournament knight. This is assuming that the backstory is the same as in the novels, and the TV series didn't change it to have Tyrion being facetious (there is no reason to think this). Jorah's tournament victories are how he impressed Lynesse Hightower to wed him (though she later left him due to his lack of wealth). The "Tourney at Lannisport" isn't something Tyrion made up on the spot: after the Greyjoy Rebellion ended, King Robert Baratheon held a tournament in celebration of the victory. Jorah himself performed very well during that war and was knighted by Robert himself. Tyrion is also not inventing the detail that Jorah even defeated Jaime Lannister that day - he didn't unhorse him, but he did break nine lances against Jaime at the joust, after which the judges declared him the winner (Jaime was one of the best tournament knights alive but he wasn't invincible; in Season 1 the TV show mentioned that Loras also surprisingly managed to defeat him on one occassion). Jorah's passion for Lynesse was so great at the tournament that he personally defeated at least seven men (including Jaime and Lord Yohn Royce). As the episode acknowledges, of course, this was all when Jorah was much younger - but much like Ser Barristan Selmy, he is a very experienced and skilled fighter. He also mentions how he fought and killed the Dothraki bloodrider Qotho back in Season 1. **Tyrion doesn't tell Jorah that his father is dead in the novels, because word simply had not reached him about it in King's Landing before he fled Westeros. News about his death was only brought back to the Wall by Jon and Samwell near the end of the third novel, when Tyrion is already imprisoned after Joffrey is poisoned (which happens closer to the middle of the novel). The third novel is very long so the TV series split it into two seasons of material, Season 3 and Season 4. The TV series used the Battle of Castle Black as the climax of Season 4, and it happened at the end of the third novel - but due to the way the content was split, both Jon and Samwell return to Castle Black by the Season 3 finale. The result was that the Night's Watch storyline had to be padded out in Season 4, because in the novels the battle occurred very soon after they returned (the equivalent of if the battle happened in the second or third episode of Season 4, not episode nine). Samwell is shown writing letters to all of the high lords of Westeros in the Season 3 finale, warning them that the White Walkers have returned and that Lord Commander Mormont is dead (only Stannis responded to help). Tyrion is only arrested some weeks afterwards when Joffrey is poisoned at the Purple Wedding. Due to the way the scenes were moved around, therefore, in the TV version it is entirely plausible that Tyrion actually received news of Jeor Mormont's death from one of Samwell's letters, shortly before Joffrey's wedding (i.e. around the time of the first episode of Season 4). In the books : See: Differences between books and TV series - Season 5#Unbowed,_Unbent,_Unbroken * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Feast for Crows: ** Chapter 2, The Captain of the Guards: In fear that Obara, Nym and Tyene will draw Dorne into a war against the Lannisters, Prince Doran commands Areo Hotah to imprison the Sand Snakes. ** Chapter 21, The Queenmaker: On Doran’s orders, Areo puts a stop to the plot to use Princess Myrcella to spark a war. ** Chapter 39, Cersei IX: Cersei forces an entertainer to admit to sleeping with an accused Tyrell. ** Chapter 43, Cersei X: Cersei conspires for the Faith Militant to imprison Queen Margaery, who is set to stand trial. * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Dance with Dragons: ** Chapter 37, The Prince of Winterfell: Reek gives Ramsay’s “Stark” bride away during the wedding ceremony before the heart tree in the Godswood. Later, during the bedding, Ramsay rapes his new wife and forces Reek to watch. ** Chapter 38, The Watcher: Cersei’s Kingsguard arrives in Doran’s court. ** Chapter 40, Tyrion IX: Tyrion and Jorah are spotted by slavers. ** Chapter 45, The Blind Girl: The Waif teaches the lying game to Arya. ** Chapter 47, Tyrion X: Tyrion and Jorah are captured by slavers, to be sold in Meereen and perform in its fighting pits. ** Chapter 67, The Ugly Little Girl: The Faceless Man tells Arya she must wholly abandon her identity and don a new face, and so he leads her down to a hidden room where the walls are covered with the faces of those who die at the temple. Gallery Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken 04.jpg Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken 02.jpg Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken 01.jpg MyrcellaSeason5.jpg Hotah-5x06-Promo.jpg References